"We have yet to know much more than we knew about his murder within about 48 hours," said Clements, who has had little contact with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office besides a meeting with detectives two months ago at her request. "We don't know who participated in the plan or the financing or the carrying out, and we don't yet have the murderer named by law enforcement."

Timeline

Clements, who is director of the state human services' behavioral health office, said she is concerned the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation are not coordinating enough.

"Each of them have a piece of the picture, but the whole picture is missing," she said.

Clements and her husband, Tom, were watching television a year ago March 19 when the doorbell rang. He answered and was shot, dying in her arms.

"Grief takes a while," she said, holding back tears. "In the days and months that followed Tom's murder, we had our hands full with all that we could do to get through days. As we've begun to address our trauma from that night, and the grief since, we perhaps in our healing process have more space to recognize anger, as well."

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Clements and the couple's daughters know who pulled the trigger but do not know who else, if anyone, was behind the plot. And she believes there were others involved, that Evan Ebel, a recently paroled prisoner who spent much of his time in solitary confinement, did not act alone.

"It's very difficult for me to believe that he planned and orchestrated and financed this act himself," she said.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, whose agency is leading the investigation, told The Denver Post that it's a meticulous process that involves trying to penetrate a gang ring whose members "exist and succeed under anonymity and use threat of violence to secure that confidence and confidentiality."

"It's just a very slow process," Maketa said. "This isn't Hollywood."

Maketa said his office is working closely and efficiently with the Department of Corrections, the FBI and other law enforcement.

"I want her to know we are not going to give up," the sheriff said. "It would be really easy to say, 'We know who pulled the gun and shot Dr. Clements.' We could easily close out our case and move down the road. But that isn't the responsible thing to do."

Lisa Clements talks about the investigation surrounding the murder of her husband, prisons chief Tom Clements, during an interview in Denver, March 18, 2014. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office still has not officially named Ebel as the killer of Clements and Nathan Leon, who was lured to a Denver intersection under the guise of delivering a pizza and then shot to death March 17, 2013.

This is despite Ebel is named as the murderer in federal court documents regarding the sentencing of Stevie Marie Anne Vigil, who bought the 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun and gave it to Ebel, a convicted felon.

"That felon promptly used the firearm to kill two innocent people and severely injure a law enforcement officer," the records state.

Ebel skipped out on parole less than two months after his release from prison, where he spent much of his time in solitary confinement. Ebel forced Leon, a father of three, into the trunk of his car and made him read a statement into a tape recorder: "You ensured that we were locked behind a door ... so why should we care about you and yours?" Leon's body was found in Golden.

Lisa Clements said she, like Leon's family, first learned about that recording from news reports, not from investigators.

Al-Turki has denied any involvement in Clements' murder, but investigators have reviewed his prison and financial records looking for ties to the 211 Crew. Clements was killed one week after rejecting a request by al-Turki, who is serving time for sexually assaulting his housekeeper, to return to his native Saudi Arabia.

A hit list naming more than 20 public officials was found in Ebel's black Cadillac DeVille two days after Clements' slaying, raising suspicion that Ebel wasn't acting on his own but might have been carrying out revenge based on the grudges of others. At least one of the names on the list was that of a federal official who had no previous dealings with Ebel, according to a source who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity.

Maketa's office said Tuesday it is not aware of a federal official being on the hit list, but it also said "specific details about current leads or information investigators are working on cannot be shared."

A year later, Ebel's named targets still live with the fear that someone else, someone who hasn't been caught, wanted them dead.

Clements said she is speaking out because she doesn't want Colorado to forget her husband's murder is unsolved.

"I realize that as impactful as Tom's life and his death was for our family, that it's human nature for the public, for us as individuals, to sort of get on with life," she said.

"I'm angry at the horrific senselessness. I'm angry that it impacted not just one individual (but also) our entire family, our community, our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones. I'm angry that it's a year later, and we don't know any more about why than we did 12 months ago."

Today marks one year since Tom was taken from us. We want to thank all of the family and friends that have supported us, prayed for and with us, and shared our struggle over this past year as we continue to search for answers. We also truly appreciate the investigative efforts that have been made so far by all of the different law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, today we are no closer to finding closure because these investigations into Tom's murder have largely been without conclusive results. Our family sincerely urges all of the investigators to work together to help us understand why this happened and who was involved. Tom's family and friends deserve at least the peace of mind that comes from understanding why we've lost him. It is our hope that a year from now we are not still asking these same questions, waiting for the phone to ring with answers.

Statement from Lisa Clements the day before the one-year anniversary of her husband's murder

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